The gap between the number of men and women applying for University has widened to 90,000, as students collect their A-Level results today.
According to UCAS, the university administrations body, the number of applications for universities in the UK decreased for men for the first time since 2012, but women the number increased to 90,000. A record 424,000 applicants gained placed at universities today.
Women were also found to outnumber men in almost two-thirds of degree subjects, with women seen as being 35% more likely to go to university than men.
UCAS chief executive Mary Curnock Cook, told Sky news in a video: “I think this is an issue that needs addressing. If it was the other way round there would be an absolute outcry – if young women were being disadvantaged in education – and I think it needs a whole system effort to find out the reasons and look at some of the solutions that are needed.”
Despite the encouraging figures from UCAS, when females graduate they are still hit by a pay gap. Not-for-profit the Fawcett Society estimates the pay gap for female graduates to be £3,000, when they enter the workforce, with this figure growing to 23% after 10 years in the labour market.
Despite the government’s commitment to eradicating the gender pay gap, research suggests that is has scarcely decreased within four years.
A report by the Women and Equalities Committee highlighted that the gender pay gap, currently at 19.2 per cent, has remained around the same mark for the past four years.
The report also concluded that women over the age of 40 are most affected. The gender pay gap for women aged between 50 and 59 currently stands at 27.3%.
